Dunlop’s Ruia seeks Rs.1 bn loan

Kolkata, Nov 24 (IANS) Dunlop India Ltd chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia Monday said he has asked the government to grant Dunlop a loan of Rs.1 billion.”We have asked for a loan of Rs.100 crore (Rs.1 billion) from West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC),” he told reporters at the state’s secretariat Writers’ Buildings after a meeting with West Bengal Labour and Power Minister Mrinal Banerjee.

He reassured that there would be no job cut in the company and reiterated that it would commence production again.

“I have apprised the minister about the present situation in Dunlop. The company is still receiving orders. The problem, which we have faced is shortage of working capital,” Ruia said.

“Dunlop closure is not a permanent one, it is a temporary shutdown,” Ruia added.

“We have received the application from Dunlop a few days back and it is with the concerned department, which is examining it,” Subrata Gupta, managing director of WBIDC, told IANS.

A week after suspending production at the factory in Hooghly district neighbouring Kolkata, Ruia Sunday said he was negotiating with the banks for a working capital loan of Rs.700 million in the first phase.

“Our total shortfall is Rs.2 billion. But we are expecting to tie up soon with a bank for an initial amount of Rs.700 million,” Ruia said at a media conference here Sunday.

Earlier, he asked for sales tax exemption from the West Bengal government and an agreement with the workers for increasing productivity before resuming operations at the Sahaganj factory.

The union leaders of the Sahagunj factory are sitting for a bipartite meeting with the labour minister Tuesday.

The Ruia Group ventured into tyre industries in 2005 with the acquisition of Dunlop India Ltd.